Clone Wars 1.17-18: Virus

“Blue Shadow Virus” | “Mystery of a Thousand Moons”

Subtitle: it’s a Camelot story

I have so much to talk about these two episodes but little of it has to do with the action. Basically, a mad scientist weaponizes a plague and though our heroes thwart him, Ahsoka and Padmé (and a handful of clones) are infected, so Anakin and Obi-Wan have to get the antidote which turns out to be the root of a carnivorous plant on a haunted planet. They succeed and everybody lives! …well, no, a handful of the handful of clones don’t make it, and that’s one of the things I want to talk about. So let’s get started.

Here’s Queen Neeyutnee of Naboo (and Captain Typho! Hi Captain Typho!). Apparently she rules for all of one year, in between Jamillia (who appears in Attack of the Clones) and Apailana (who appears in Revenge of the Sith). I expect there is a behind the scenes reason as to why the series made up another Queen (something about the actresses’ likeness? someone screwed up the math? does she die in a later episode?) but it makes me want to know more about the politics of Naboo. Not that I haven’t always wanted to more about the politics of Naboo, where the Queen is elected and the Senator is appointed. Queens of Naboo and their Handmaiden Secret Service should absolutely be an anthology film.

This is Peppi, a girl gungun. She proves better at basic life skills than Jar Jar within about 90 seconds. And then later she teams up with Ahsoka and they kick ass.

Padmé IS CAPTURED AGAIN WHY. But she continues to wear the best clothes.

This is pants, which I love.

The rest of the time she’s in her boring, but I suppose easier to animate, bun and vest look with bonus anti-contamination suits cuz they are investigating a deadly virus.

I’ve said everything I need to say about this. But at the end of the second ep, Obi-Wan indicates Jar Jar will be given weapon training which sounds like a terrible idea though I’m sure the intention is to make him less of a hazard.

As tired as I get of Jar Jar’s antics, I love Anakin’s. He’s an emotional mess from his first appearance running down the ship’s gangplank to shout at the Nubians about Padmé’s safety. He shouts at everybody, rushes into battle like five times regardless of necessity, and drives Obi-Wan completely crazy. But he wins (because he’s Anakin) so no one calls him on any of it. Obi-Wan, as much as he seems to want to stop the Anakin Trainwreck, pretty much ends up enabling him. Anakin Anakins, Obi-Wan cautions him, Anakin says nah, and Obi-Wan gives in.

I guess Obi-Wan loves Anakin and Anakin’s Anakin-ness as much as I do.

Okay, I love this series. This guy is an over the top cartoon villain who is really hard to take seriously, but what a line!

I just love how the series highlights how distinctly terrible perpetual war is. And how hard it is for the people in the middle of it to see past their own tragedies and ideals — Padmé doesn’t even blink, which is very reminiscent of Anakin and Obi-Wan completely ignoring Slick’s motives in the previous episode. Padmé is against war — it’s practically her first line in her first appearance — but she’s willing to fight back, to protect her people and what she believes in. She doesn’t realize until it’s too late the meaning has shifted, that she’s been manipulated from the beginning.

And both Anakin’s desperation and his delusion are even greater than her’s — but as annoying as it is for Padmé to have been captured three of three appearances, it does drive home the idea that her life is constantly in danger. And has been literally the entire time Anakin has known her. His fixation on her safety is not healthy but it’s not exactly misplaced either.

This ep, and series, also drive home the idea that Obi-Wan, at least, knows more than he’s saying about the relationship between Anakin and Padmé. They are both pretty terrible at hiding it. Padmé tries to be all smooth and nonchalant about asking for Anakin and Obi-Wan to be assigned to the Naboo problem when in fact it makes perfect sense for her to ask for the people she knows, who have helped her and Naboo in the past, and being all weird about it just makes her look suspicious. Meanwhile, Anakin wears his heart on his sleeve at all times and his heart belongs to Padmé, so.

And then there’s Obi-Wan, King Arthur to Anakin and Padmé’s Lancelot and Guinevere. He pretends to be better at the whole ‘no attachments’ thing, he certainly gives it lip service, but he’s really just better at pretending. For example, Obi-Wan tells Anakin not to risk their mission to try and rescue Padmé, and assigns him to focus on the doctor. But during the operation he says “hopefully Anakin has reached Padmé by now” not “hopefully Anakin has captured the doctor by now” indicating he knows full well what Anakin’s play will be, and fwiw he wants Padmé to be safe, too. And as indicated above, he is definitely attached to Anakin.

In the second episode, the Jedi are sent on a classic RPG arc to get the cure to the virus, which has now infected Ahsoka and Padmé (despite being sick, the two + Jar Jar and their clones successfully save the galaxy, or at least Naboo, AGAIN by securing the lab and stopping all the droids with virus bombs & vials from leaving).

Anakin and Obi-Wan:

1. Fly to Iego2. Navigate through the cluttered atmosphere3. Meet the talkative kid in charge of the city, who gives them lots of great exposition and their next task4. Climb down a rock side — Anakin discovers a shortcut (did he read the online cheats?)5. Fight off carnivorous vines6. Obtain carnivorous vine root aka the cure7. Attempt to leave the planet despite the ‘ghost’ that the natives say won’t let them8. Narrowly escape the ‘ghost’ which turns out to be an old weapon system9. Pause for debate about Jedi philosophy

Like I said, Arthur and Lancelot.

10. Work with the natives to destroy the weapon, thus a) allowing people to leave the planet and b) escaping with the cure

It seriously plays like a video game and halfway through I was panicking that they didn’t have enough time left in the episode to do all the things they needed to do. But they did it. And more importantly we visited the Moons of Iego!!

This cap should be Iego’s postcard. But Anakin and Obi-Wan don’t waste any time celebrating Iego’s liberation, they have to go get the cure to the girls. Here’s Anakin looking at a weak but cured Padmé:

And Ahsoka:

His family is safe and well. But…

Friendly reminder that (according to clones!) clones are created to die. Padmé responds that she hopes it’s worth it, and it breaks my heart that it’s not.